The days of ledger books are gone thanks to school grading and attendance software programs. Now teachers and school administrators can easily enter grades for homework, classroom assignments and tests, and then quickly calculate student scores and averages. With class attendance software programs, teachers and administrators can log daily, weekly and yearly attendance records for each student in their school or classroom.

Because of these software programs, teacher and school administrators can easily follow up on each student's performance and attendance throughout the school year. Here are some additional things to consider about using school grading and attendance software:

1. Make keep tracking of grades and grade point averages easier with software for teachers.
2. Use school attendance software applications to help you monitor student attendance for your classroom or school.
3. For private and parochial schools, use school grading and attendance software made to help meet the needs of students.
   

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Use school grading software programs to help you enter and calculate grades for your students

Keeping track of your student's grades and grade point averages is easier thanks to software for grading for teachers. There are many suppliers of school grading software applications who offer programs to help you not only keep track of grades, but also gauge student performance ratios and overall grade point averages. Now you can calculate student proficiency so that you can determine what you need to do to help students who need to improve their grades.

I recommend: Learn about the classroom grading features offered by Surfside Software, such as the ability track student's proficiency and calculate grade point averages and test scores. The grading software from Class Action Gradebook allows teachers to track grades for homework assignments, class work, and tests, and also calculate an overall grade summary for each student.

Use administrative school attendance software to help you keep track of student performance

The days of the writing down daily attendance records are gone thanks to software for school attendance programs. With classroom attendance software programs, you can follow and review your student's attendance history with just a point and a click and also calculate average attendances for a day of the week as well as for students.

I recommend: Read about the classroom attendance software features offered by the administrative software program from Rediker. This program helps administrators and teachers record daily attendance for students and staff. You can also use this program on a PDA. Attendance Keeper has a class attendance software program that follows daily classroom attendance and keeps record by student, day of the week and class room type.

Use grading and attendance software programs made for the special requirements of private schools

Since private and parochial schools have special requirements such as a need for more critical grade and attendance analysis, there are grading and attendance software programs made to help teachers and administrators access student data information. Now you can measure student performance and proficiency and then implement this information into your overall classroom or school programs.

I recommend: Learn about the many teacher and administration features offered by HeadMaster and PowerSchool to help keep track of student grades and attendance for private and parochial schools.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Many teacher software programs offer free download demos of their products so that you can see how easy the programs are to use as well as to test out their features.

Get a school grading and attendance software system for your classroom, the school or your entire district. Grading and attendance software allows schools to network student information and provide up-to-date records and communication among parents, students, teachers and other school staff. Schools can streamline record keeping and information is instantly updated and backed up at a centralized database either hosted or networked at the school or district level.

School grading and attendance software offers the option to enter grades and attendance and can include features for monitoring student performance or classroom management. Software for grading helps teachers create reports and calculate grades. School grading and attendance applications keep parents in the loop, offering a view of grades, assignments, attendance and conduct reports. Plus some software offers bilingual support. Look for automatic monitoring options to set up email alerts.

When you are investing in grading and attendance software that helps in your classroom or school, consider these features and options:

1. Get connected with web-based school grading and attendance tools and access your classroom records from any computer with an Internet connection.

2. Use school grading and classroom attendance software applications to establish a network system to connect classrooms to the school or the district.

3. Hire a school grading and attendance system provider with training and support services.

Action Steps
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Connect to your classroom with web-based attendance and school grading software tools

Access records from any computer with an Internet connection and your login information. Start today with hosted web services and you can connect without any other onsite technology.

I recommend: ClassBuilder offers a gradebook for K-12 teachers and no need for installation on your computer. MyGradeBook from Pearson offers secure, 24/7, online access to your gradebook with your computer and Internet connection.

Use grading and school attendance software applications for your network system

Look for professional level grading and attendance systems. For high-tech grading and attendance solutions, work with your IT technician to network your school for streamlined workflow or integrate your school with the district. Some school administration software packages offer human resource options as well.

I recommend: GradeSpeed offers stand-alone gradebooks for individual teachers and fully web-based versions for the district. You can get hosted packages or use your own network. iPASS is a leader among browser-based grading and attendance systems with integration options and administrative features.

Use a grading and classroom attendance software systems provider with training and support services

Connect your school to the district and the community with grading and attendance systems backed by provider services. If you plan to install a new program for your entire school, get your teachers training. Look for technical support services with flat fee packages for call center support or ask for a technician to set-up your programs.

I recommend: Look to aal's eSIS for education data management and professional services including consulting, education and technical support. Edline offers GradeQuick and Easy Grade Pro along with a suite of K-12 technology solutions, plus training and support services.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Verify that your new attendance and school grading software programs are compatible with your operating systems and school hardware.
• •  Check your license agreement to make sure you have a sufficient number of licensed seats for each terminal and classroom.

Software for school attendance and grading helps teachers and administrators save time doing necessary tasks. Many of these programs come with tutorials or you can receive online support. Some suppliers of school attendance software applications and school grading programs also offer in-house training so that you as well as your staff can learn how to use these programs properly.

Whether you are a teacher or an administrator, learning how to use teacher software programs will benefit both you and your students. Here are some additional things to consider about school grading and attendance software education and training:

1. Learn how to use school grading software programs by studying FAQs and getting online support.

2. Use tutorials offered by suppliers of classroom attendance software to teach you how to use their programs.

3. Get online or onsite training and support for software for teachers.

Action Steps
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Use online resources to learn how to use software grading software and attendance programs

Many suppliers of teacher software offer online FAQs, support and forums to help educators get the training required to use their programs. These options provide training at any time of day as needs arise by teachers and administrators who are new or unfamiliar with these systems.

I recommend: Access the information at ThinkWave so that you can learn how to use their teacher and administration school grading and attendance programs. Use the online support which also includes a forum where you can ask questions from experts and other users at Online Grades and Attendance.

Utilize tutorials provided by suppliers of school grading and attendance software programs

Another way to learn how to use class attendance software and grading programs is to use tutorials provided by suppliers or websites created for teachers. You can also gather this information and create a tutorial for your school or school district so that teachers can best utilize teacher software programs.

I recommend: Use the tutorials provided by Power Teacher Tutorials and the WebTutorialList to learn how to use various teacher software programs. Gather information about creating tutorials for your staff from sites such as the Lebanon School District to help your staff learn how to use teacher software programs.

Find classes that offer school grading and attendance software education and training

Online or in-house training can help you and your staff learn how to use school grading and attendance software programs more efficiently. Many suppliers of school grading software and attendance software programs offer classes at different times of the year or you can schedule them to meet the needs of your staff.

I recommend: Take the online or off-site training provided by GradeSpeed to learn how to properly use their software for grading student tests and homework assignments. If you are an administrator, you can set up in-house training for your entire teaching staff. Register to take one of the webcasts available from Rediker Software to get training to learn how to use their teacher software programs.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Setting up a webpage tutorial for your teaching staff to learn how to use teacher software is a great way of providing educational support that is available whenever they need it.

In the past, teacher and school administrators wrote grading and attendance information in ledger books. Today software computer programs take the stress out of keeping track of student grades and attendance. There are many types of school grading and attendance software programs and each performs a number of functions helpful to teachers and administrators. There are programs for all academic levels to make recording-keeping easier. Each software function has a key term that is used to highlight software functions and to make learning how to use them simpler. Learn the key terms for the functions and types of school grading and attendance software so that you and your students can benefit from these programs.

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Teacher gradebook

Teacher gradebook software programs configure and summarize student proficiency. Educators can monitor student homework and classwork assignments and grades throughout the school year. Teachers can also create printable student reports as well as write letters to parents detailing their children's progress.

I recommend: Learn about teacher gradebook features of the school grading software program offered at Class Action Gradebook.

Categorize assignments

For teachers who teach multiple lessons such as English, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science, there are software programs to help them categorize the assignments for both homework and classwork. Teachers can perform numeric averages to monitor student abilities in each course of study.

I recommend: Find out how to categorize assignments with the grading software program featured at Surfside Software.

Report card preparation

In the past, preparing report cards was a tedious job. Teachers were required to write out each grade for every student they taught during the school year. Now there are report card preparation functions featured on many school grading and attendance programs that take the stress out of preparing student cards.

I recommend: Gather information about the report card software program offered by Rediker.

Pre-excuse groups

Pre-excuse groups are students who have reasons for being absent from school. Parents or students alert school staff of absences including those for doctor's appointments or surgery. Pre-excuse group functions in school attendance software help notify staff of these types of student absences.

I recommend: Learn how to manage pre-excuse groups of students with the software provided by WhippleHill.

Customizable transcripts

Many school attendance and grading software programs feature the ability to customize transcripts. Each student's attendance and grade report is entered into the software where it can be formatted according to teacher and administrator preferences and requirements to create comprehensive transcript reports.

I recommend: Learn about the capabilities of the customizable transcript software program offered at Education Edge.

Progress reports

Many school grading and attendance software programs offer the ability to create progress reports for students at various grade levels. There are progress report programs for grade levels including pre-school, kindergarten, grammar and high school students, as well as progress reports that highlight student abilities in basic skills for each of those grade levels.

I recommend: Find out how to create progress reports for students with the software programs at Teacher's Paradise.